I'm going to get flamed: Day Job vs. Poker...

[tibrida]

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That steady 60k a year job with benefits sure won't seem so pointless once that happens.

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If we're gonna talk about fantasy land... How many kids out of school make this kind of money?

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Not many right out of school, but the point is after 5-6 years of working experience and a degree, they are atleast somewhere near the ballpark. Whereas an ex-pro of 5-6 years who dropped out and busted his roll has no degree, and no resume aside from playing poker.

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Are you guys being serious about this? If you don't at least make 50-60K out of college, you either didn't do enough or you majored in psychology (or equivalently useless major). It's all about working hard and building up that resume during college. If you sacrifice a bit of partying, obtaining a salary like that is cake. I didn't even go to a good university and I got hired at a very competitive firm during my junior year in college (getting that signing bonus during collge was so nice). It's not the degree that does the work, It's YOU.

[mindstatez]

Tibrida,

I agree with the sentiment. My sister went to an expensive school, had a few connections, but ultimately aced her interviews and had a pretty good internship, so she already had a full time job lined up right out of college. She makes ~60k right now but is looking for other work with a different company.

However, there are plenty people who did similar in college as her, who did not have a decent job materialize instantly even with the degree, and who will work their way up to that paygrade slowly. Not everybody is instantly in a groove right after college, there are loads of kids who want to be politicians/lawyers/CEO's, isn't enough $$$ to go around, and somebody always ends up with the short end of the stick.

[blutarski]

Two (hopefully) insightful, interesting stories:

1. I was able to kinda sorta get a taste of the pro poker life last December. I had to have some neck surgery and the recouperation time was like two months. So I thought "hayell yeah, I'm gonna play some poker all effing day."

That lasted for two weeks. I couldn't stand poker anymore and I eventually blew my 'roll in a bout of boredom and tilt. I can't see how anyone can be profitable if poker turns into a boring slog. You'll unconsciously sabotage your play just to get away from it.

2. I had a real chance to 'live my dream.' I oh-so wanted to be a brewer! This was the mid-nineties and craftbrewing was so hip, and 'now.' I had been home brewing for a while and I was looking for an excuse to get away from the job I'd burned out on.

People had told me "there's no money in it, it's [censored] work, it ain't that great." Yada yada.

When I finally got a brewing job, I knew within a week it wasn't for me. I stuck it out for three years, even became half way decent at it, but, when my current job became available, I jumped at.

On the one hand, I think "Damn, I lost three years of my life when I should have been making more money." On the other I feel pretty good about following a dream of mine- many people don't have the guts to do this.

[Pyromaniac]

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I enjoy poker and have fantasized from time to time about playing for a living. But, it's one dream that shouldn't come true. First, I make a very good living in the tech industry (nearly 100k/year) and to make that much at poker would require a ton of hours. Plus, it'd get mind numbingly dull. Poker is fun...as a hobby. My day job is definiately more interesting overall and has a career path which means I have room to shift what I'm doing a little as I progress.

I'd play poker for a living if:
a) I could "work" about 20 hours a week.
b) Make 125-130k in that 20 hours.

Otherwise, the burnout and variance might, quite literally, kill me (ulcers, stress, etc). If I had to crank out 40+ hours a week of poker knowning my family and mortgage rested on my success, I'd turn into a basket case.

Oh, and to someone that asked, yes, I'd miss the day-to-day consistency of a normal job. Coworkers to talk to, days I can just totally slack and get paid, etc.

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So you'd only quit your job to play poker if you made $6,000,000+ a year? gtfo

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that's what I thought he'd meant at first, too, but now I think he meant 20hrs/wk to make 125-130k for the *year*.

I hope that's what he meant. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Cat]

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Are you guys being serious about this? If you don't at least make 50-60K out of college, you either didn't do enough or you majored in psychology (or equivalently useless major).

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Wow, if this is true, the States is totally different to Europe. Having a good degree (or even a couple) doesn't equal a job over here, never mind a well-paying job. There are tons of intelligent, personable grads doing crappy low paid jobs because they couldn't get anything better.

And to the guy who said if you fail as a pro, the only reason is you aren't good enough - not true. There are plenty of talented players who go bust because they have terrible money management skills. Yes, not being good enough is often a reason for failure, but I think bad money management would have to be the number one reason by far. (And I don't just mean being a degen, I mean not knowing how big a bankroll you should keep for your risk of ruin, etc.)

[bogey1]

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So you'd only quit your job to play poker if you made $6,000,000+ a year? gtfo

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that's what I thought he'd meant at first, too, but now I think he meant 20hrs/wk to make 125-130k for the *year*.

I hope that's what he meant. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

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Yea, 125-130 for the year. Sorry, figured that was blindingly obvious.

Also, by "work", that's 20 hours play time. I figure there's more each week in skill improvement time too (hand reviews, posts, books).

[morphball]

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This whole topic is just retarded, stay in school and get a real job.

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You mentioned above that you have a pretty successful career in the legal profession, and you wouldn't give that up to sit with people you despise. That made me laugh a little bit, as being in the legal profession myself, I can definitely say that there are lot of despicable people we have to deal with on a daily basis. In fact, there are several judges I plan on giving a beat down to in another life.

I think you should also consider that a legal career, assuming you are an attorney, is a pretty good freaking career in comparison to what most people can expect. And even still, it is a senseless grind for 9 out of 10 days...

[RichardHurtz]

This lawyer is standing in line to buy tickets. All of a sudden the guy behind him starts to give him a massage. The lawyer turns around and says "what the hell are you doing?"
The guy replies "I am a massage therapists and I was just standing here doing nothing so I thought I would give you a massage" The lawyer says "Jesus, Well I am a lawyer and you dont see me fxcking the guy in front of me do you?"

[morphball]

The devil walks up to a lawyer and says, "hey, I will give you $50 bucks for your soul." The lawyer responds, "what's the catch?"

[Moonshine]

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One downside is if/when you bust, a multi year gap in your resume where you played poker full time may not make you that marketable in the job market.

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Understatement of the year.

As well, even if you don't bust and just get by on what you make from poker, what happens in 6+ years or whatever if you just get bored from poker? What if you don't want to play anymore? How the hell do you get a good job after wasting the past 6 years of your life?

The very simple fact of the matter is, the great majority of people who don't play poker (employers) view poker as straight up degenerate gambling. You think a possible employer is going to take the time in an interview to listen to you talk about odds, ranges, and reads? As soon as the words "I've been playing poker professionally for the past 6 years" comes out of your mouth, their ears are closed and your resume is in the trash. As well, nobody is going to believe you when you say you've been making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, have tons of personal freedom, but now you're bored and want to give it all up to hump a $35k year job working 45hrs a week in a cubicle. Riiiiiight. They'll know the real story, that you're a lazy ass bum degen who just blew through his last wad of borrowed money and is now forced to take a job to get out of debt.

This whole topic is just retarded, stay in school and get a real job.

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You cant make these kind of all encompasing statements.

I didnt work a single job in college. I had a 3.3 as a Psych major. I played poker the last 3 years i was in college and never got an internship. I was [censored] good at poker though and I made sure the resume reflected that.

I got interviews at Goldman Sacchs and the hedge fund I currently work at from that resume. In the interviews I was able to talk very intelligently about the kind of thought processes I go through when playing and the skill sets I possess and how they are VERY similar to desirable traits of people in some areas of the financial world.

FWIW, no consulting firms would touch me but I didnt care. The same mindset that drew me to poker in the first place made me desire to try out a career in finance.

I'm not going to lie, working does sort of suck when you know you have to go in every single day for 10 hours and you lose that 50 hours of free time you once had during the week, but I'm learning a ton of interesting stuff and keeping my options open for the future.

And if someday I decide to go pro again after working here and rejoin the workforce 6 years later, I certainly don't think anyone will scoff at my resume and throw it in the trash